- Date
- June 30, 1990, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, TX
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5256PPiper PA24-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900630023069A
- Case key
- 23148
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation caused by the pilot in commands failure to select a tank with fuel and the improper lowering of flaps while performing a forced landing resulting in the aircraft landing short and colliding with a fence.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane was on the base leg for landing. The engine lost total power due to depletion of the fuel in the selected tank. The pilot attempted a restart after switching to the other fuel tank as he was executing an emergency landing toward the airport. During the descent, the pilot lowered the flaps to the full down position. Just prior to touchdown, the left horizontal stabilizer struck a 3 feet high fence post and a hard landing resulted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5256P
- Reported as
- Piper PA24-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-288
- Airframe hours
- 3,447
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wollaston, Charles R.
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 23, 1990 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- RVS · Tulsa, OK
- Destination
- F54 · Arlington, TX
- Airport
- F54 · Arlington Muni, runway 16, 4,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 470 total · 87 in this make and model · 302 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FTW, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.